The Raccoon Next Door:Getting Along with Urban Wildlife

Gary BogueIllustrations by Chuck Todd

Raccoon Next Door is a guide to help us identify and get along with the neighborhood raccoon and all our other wild neighbors. Author Gary Bogue presents stories, anecdotes, and sound advice for coexisting with the common creatures you might encounter in your backyard. Chuck Todd’s illuminating illustrations bring the animals to life in vivid detail.

The species discussed in the book include everything from coyotes and mountain lions to tarantulas and earwigs, newts and salamanders, songbirds and butterflies. Learn how to be a good animal neighbor using down-to-earth, practical, and homey advice that will show you how to live in harmony with those wild and crazy skunks who like to party all night long!

Gary Bogue was curator of the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, California, from 1967 to 1979. For thirty-two years he has written a popular daily column on pets, wildlife, and environmental issues for the Contra Costa Times. He lives in Benicia, California, with his wife, two cats, a parrot, and a cockatoo.

Chuck Todd is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, literary journals, annual reports, posters, and exhibits in California and the Midwest. He is a full-time news artist for the Contra Costa Times and a freelance illustrator, and he also teaches drawing and storyboarding at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco.